Horton guilty of murdering brother

A six-man, six-woman jury took about 45 minutes to find Christopher Horton, 28, guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing and robbery of his brother, Adam Horton, on Sept. 2, 2007, in Bayou Vista.
The crime was committed with his wife’s half-brother, Jimmy Wright, who had arrived in town and had been staying with the couple in Patterson. The robbery yielded about $1,000, including $400 withdrawn with a stolen debit card by Horton’s wife, Earline.
Wright is serving a life sentence after a 2009 conviction of second-degree murder. Earline Horton served 27 months of a five-year sentence after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact to murder.
Following two-and-a-half days of testimony, Anthony Saleme, assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, told jurors in closing that “this case has lingered for seven years. It is time that justice is done.”
First Assistant District Attorney Bo Duhe commended the joint effort of the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Acadiana Crime Lab, the St. Mary Parish Coroner’s Office as well as the St. Mary Parish District Attorney’s Office in the successful prosecution of the case.
Salem told jurors in his closing arguments, “I am not asking you to exonerate Jimmy Wright or Earline Horton ... They are doing or have done their time ... I am asking you to finish this case. This is the last piece of the puzzle ... I am asking you to complete the justice in this case and find Christopher Horton guilty as charged.”
Robert Fuhrer, Horton’s attorney, attempted to suggest that Wright, who said he saw Horton stab his brother, was the person responsible for the stabbing.
Wright was the one actively hiding, trashing, burning and destroying the evidence, not Christopher Horton, he reminded jurors. Wright was the owner of the two weapons, a gun and a knife, brought to Adam Horton’s mobile home on 537 Little Pines Lane that fateful Sunday afternoon before Labor Day, he said.
Saleme said, “I am not going to sit here and tell you Jimmy Wright is a good person or deserves any awards for what he did, but what I am going to tell you that Jimmy Wright had nothing to gain” by his testimony which implicated himself as a principle in the murder.
Earline Horton said her husband confessed to her he stabbed his brother.
Fuhrer said, “She admitted lying to police then she lied to you in this case ... when she said she used the debit card (stolen from the victim) on at least five occasions ... and told you she never saw the name on card, she never looked to see the name on card.”
Fuhrer argued Wright and Earline Horton, who knew Adam Horton had just inherited a lot of money, worked out a scheme to use Christopher Horton and make him the fall guy in the robbery of Adam Horton.
Saleme said three witnesses and recovered receipts corroborate many of the details Wright and Earline Horton gave of how and when the crime occurred.
“Christopher Horton is not who Mr. Fuhrer has painted him to be as a poor simpleton taken advantage of by his shrew of a wife and her half-brother, but this shows otherwise,” Saleme said of the evidence presented in the course of the trial.
Fuhrer reminded jurors it was Wright who continued on, out of sight, while Horton spoke to someone he knew while walking to the victim’s house. Fuhrer asked the jury to consider the lesser crime of manslaughter if they believed Christopher Horton did not go there to rob or kill his brother.
Saleme said if jurors believed Christopher Horton went there with intent to commit murder or with the intent to commit an armed robbery and a murder occurred, even if he did not stab the victim himself, the law demands a first- or second-degree murder conviction.
The jury sent two questions to 16th Judicial District Judge Paul deMay about 30 minutes into its deliberation. It asked if IQ level could be considered in determining the verdict and what sentence could be imposed for a verdict of manslaughter.
deMay answered “No” to the first question and said, “It is your job to determine guilt or innocence. It is my job to determine the sentence.”
The maximum sentence for manslaughter would be 40 years at hard labor, he said.
About 15 minutes later the jury reached its verdict. At least 10 guilty votes were necessary for a conviction.
Evidence of Horton’s IQ had not been presented during the trial, but his father, Clark Horton, testified Horton was “slow” and had gone to special education classes in school and could not read or write. As Clark Horton waited for the jury to return the verdict he expressed his pain of losing one son in death and having his remaining son’s life hanging in the balance.
Prior evaluations, not presented at trial, classified Horton as mildly retarded with an IQ of 64 or 68 on separate psychological evaluations. As such, he cannot be sentenced to death since the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional. Fuhrer said he wanted to put his client’s mental capacity into the trial record, but was unable to do so because it was inadmissible.
Official sentencing is scheduled Aug. 27, but the law calls for a life sentence.
Jury selection began Monday with opening arguments and testimony beginning Tuesday.